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Some highlights:
Nine suspects in the kidnapping of the soldiers have been detained in the search over the past 24 hours in the Amiriya region in eastern Anbar province, as General Petraeus stated that at least two of the soldiers may be alive and there is good intelligence on who conducted the attack and kidnapping.
The Albu Issa tribe dominates the Amiriya region, and the tribe is split between pro-government elements which largely dominate the urbanized areas and the pro al Qaeda elements which rule in the rural regions. The pro government Albu Issa provide police to patrol in Amiriya, and a large segment of the Fallujah police force is made up of Albu Issa. The pro al Qaeda Albu Issa as well as the Zuba'a from Zaidon have close tribal ties to the Karbuli (or Quarghuli) tribe that is dominant in the region where the troops were kidnapped. An American military intelligence source informed us the Karbuli tribe is one of the original "Sinister Six" tribes which signed on to al Qaeda's political front, the Islamic State of Iraq, which also includes the Albu Issa, Zuba'a, and the Albu Fahd tribes. The Albu Fahd have rejected al Qaeda's Islamic State, while the Albu Issa has been split. |